"Not bad. Luck's on my side today."
Amamiya Kenichi looked down at the two bandits twitching on the ground in front of him and couldn't help smiling.
He really hadn't expected this.
He'd just left the spot where he'd run into Kakashi, walked a bit further along the road… and bumped into another set of bandits.
This time, there were only two.
"P-please spare us! This is our first time doing this!"
The one who could still move clutched at his leg and tried to crawl away, tears and snot everywhere.
He felt like fate was bullying him personally.
They'd seen a lone "merchant" wagon—easy score, right?
Who would've thought the guy was actually a ninja?
Since when was the economy so bad that shinobi had to moonlight as traders?
Kenichi curled his lip.
They sure hadn't been this humble when they'd jumped out of the bushes.
He liked them better when they were smug and arrogant.
"Please, I have an old mother waiting at home for me—"
"Yeah, no. Don't try moral blackmail on me."
Kenichi was starting to get annoyed.
He flipped the knife in his hand and smacked each of them on the head with the flat of the blade.
A simple, reliable, physical anesthesia.
Both men went limp.
"Alright… let's see… Edo Tensei's procedure goes like this…"
Kenichi muttered to himself as he dragged the unconscious bandits into a nearby cave. The spot was hidden enough—not a bad makeshift lab.
He bound one of them to the ground as a sacrifice.
The other he tied up and tossed into a corner, still breathing.
He only needed one body for this trial.
"Rise… my warrior."
Hands flashed through the hand signs, and with a low chant, Kenichi slammed his palms to the ground.
The sacrifice's body twisted, flesh reshaping under the technique.
A familiar face began to form—the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama.
The eyelids twitched.
Almost opened—
Then the "Hashirama" body started to melt.
The features collapsed like wet clay. The limbs rotted and crumbled, the whole vessel falling apart in seconds.
The reanimation dispersed with a dull crack of chakric backlash.
Kenichi's eye twitched.
"As expected of the 'God of Shinobi'… he's broken even as a corpse."
He'd known it in theory, but seeing it with his own eyes was something else.
A normal human couldn't even host Hashirama's soul.
"This guy is a bust. And that one—"
He glanced at the other bandit knocked out in the corner and shook his head.
Edo Tensei was powerful, but the practical limitations were brutal.
If he wanted a reanimated Hashirama with anything close to his original power, he'd need at least a jōnin-class sacrifice.
Still, Kenichi wasn't trying to make a combat weapon.
He wanted knowledge.
For that, even a low-level shinobi might be enough.
"…Should I try Uzumaki Kushina instead?"
He touched his chin.
He'd collected a strand of Kushina's hair at the Fourth's funeral. As an Uzumaki, she'd likely be terrifying in sealing arts even as a reanimation.
But then he imagined the layers of seals, Uzumaki quirks, the risk of backlash…
And more importantly, there was no point right now.
Even if he summoned her, what would he do with her here?
"Lucky you," he murmured, looking at the unconscious bandit.
If you're too weak to be useful, sometimes that's the only thing that saves you.
When he finally stepped back out of the cave, the interior was already completely cleaned—no corpses, no bindings, no trace he'd ever been there.
He patted his hands together, satisfied.
[Current Research Progress: 99.99%]
Kenichi glanced at his "system" panel.
His so-called golden finger didn't make loud announcements or talk in his head. It just quietly tracked his research.
But it was incredibly useful.
And according to it, the解析 (analysis) of the three-tomoe Sharingan was basically done.
It was time to choose his next project.
He had options.
Byakugan—an entire visual system worth dissecting.
Kaguya's bone kekkei genkai—Shikotsumyaku was absurdly powerful, especially combined with his current body.
And then…
The amber with the ancient parasite sealed inside.
He'd acquired that last one a while back—a fossilized bug from the Sage of Six Paths' era, rumored to control people.
If the rumors were even half true, Nagato might have… strong professional interest.
The problem was: the parasite was dead.
If Kenichi couldn't revive it, there was no experiment to run.
He could research Byakugan and rare bloodlines later, by capturing targets himself. For the parasite, though, his only sample was this one.
After some hesitation, Kenichi made his choice.
"Alright. We gamble on the bug."
If he could figure out a method to "resurrect" the parasite, the payoff would be huge.
Decision made, he lay down that night with a strangely relaxed mind.
When he opened his eyes the next morning…
The world had changed.
If yesterday's vision had been 1080p, today was 8K Ultra HD.
Tiny details popped into his awareness automatically—dust motes drifting, thread fibers on his blanket, the rapid wingbeat of a mosquito cutting through the air.
He watched the insect cross his vision in crisp slow motion.
Kenichi froze.
Then slowly, he reached up and touched his eyelid.
"…So it finished while I was sleeping, huh?"
His research progress had ticked over from 99.99% to 100% in the night.
And as a result—
He'd obtained the three-tomoe Sharingan.
He stood, moved to the mirror, and stared at his reflection.
Red eyes.
Three tomoe spinning quietly in each iris.
Exactly like an Uchiha.
"This is three-tomoe, huh…"
He leaned closer, studying the pattern.
Then his expression turned serious.
He closed his eyes, let his chakra settle, and focused carefully on his body.
No abnormal drain.
No chronic leakage.
No ominous tension in his head.
Just… smooth integration.
Unlike Kakashi, he wasn't losing chakra by merely existing with the Sharingan active.
It felt natural. Comfortable.
As if he'd been born with these eyes.
"As expected… fully optimized control," he murmured.
No side effects, no external rejection.
His research hadn't just copied the Sharingan—it had tailored it to his body.
"So in theory… I can evolve these into a Mangekyō as well, right?"
Normally, Uchiha unlocked higher stages of the Sharingan under extreme emotional trauma—watching loved ones die, killing someone important to them, that sort of thing.
Kenichi was genuinely curious.
How did "emotion" translate into a physical evolution of these eyes?
Was it soul-based? Brain-based? Chakra-based?
If he could map that process, he might not only crack the Mangekyō unlock conditions… he might also discover new ways to push ocular powers further.
Once this trip to the Land of Rain was done, he fully intended to go back to the lab and run tests.
Controlled stimuli.
Recorded changes.
Step-by-step evolution.
Science the Sharingan into submission.
As for suspicion from Konoha?
He wasn't worried.
He'd already left the village. No one could randomly barge in and check his eyes now.
And as a cover story, he still had the pair of three-tomoe Sharingan he'd taken from Orochimaru's collection.
If anyone ever cornered him and demanded an explanation—
"Oh, these? Just implants I got from my old teacher."
Perfectly reasonable.
After all—
Who in the shinobi world didn't believe Orochimaru hoarded spare eyes?